Various wired and wireless networks have evolved to handle Push-To-Talk (PTT) communication sessions, including PTT over cellular that makes two-way radio service available to mobile communication devices over traditional cellular networks. PTT provides a quick one-to-one or one-to-many communication technique that is particularly useful for many applications. A PTT communication connection is typically initiated by pressing a button, activating an icon or some other means of activation on an originating wireless communication device that opens communications between the originator and each member device of the group. Existing PTT systems have advantages over traditional cellular systems because they have faster call setup times, e.g., setup times ideally in the range of 1 second, compared to cellular voice channels that can take more than 5 seconds to establish a connection.
In some arrangements, one PTT speaker at a time is given permission to speak. Such a permission is typically referred to as a “floor grant,” where no other group member of the PTT session can speak until the mobile device with the floor grant releases the floor. Various forms of electronic communications have been developed for people to exchange information even when physically distant from one another. Through the use of electronic communication devices and telecommunication networks, two or more people may communicate over virtually any distance. Historically, such telecommunications were associated with just telephones, but today computers and mobile electronic devices may also be used to communicate for exchanging not just audio (i.e., voice), but also text, video, data or any combination thereof.
While modern electronic communication devices are very useful, at times the intended recipient of a live communication transmission, such as a telephone or video conference call, is not prepared or not in appropriate surroundings to receive the transmission. For example, the recipient may be in a very quiet environment, like a library, or a very loud environment, like a construction site, making the audio output from the recipient communication device either unwelcome or inaudible. Also, some virtually instant communication methods, such as push-to-talk, do not provide the recipient device a way of delaying or managing the incoming communications. Similarly, in a very bright environment, like outside on a sunny day, or in a very dark environment, like at a movie theatre, a video output may not be clearly visible or may be inappropriate or undesirable. Also, regardless of the environment surrounding the recipient device, sometimes the recipient themselves may be busy or need a brief delay before getting involved in a call. In this way, electronic communications often suffer user experience issues since users are unable to or limited in how they may manage the output of electronic communications.